How do knowledge brokers emerge? The case of the comics-publishing house Kappa edizioni

Bridging connections among distinct actors such as individuals or organizations, can counterbalance their insularity with fresh and non-redundant information (Granovetter, 1983; Fleming and Marx, 2006). The management of local and distant relationships with partners have also an impact on the searching activities for opportunities, resources and new capabilities, and it can positively influence the cognitive maps which help to overcome inertia and narrow perspectives in organizations (Aldrich and Kim 2008). A key role in this process is covered by the so called knowledge brokers: actors that bridge together distinct communities such as industrial clusters, promoting the flow of knowledge between them (Hargadon, 1998). Being at the same time in a central position of the group of reference and connected to distant ones, knowledge brokers on one hand are trusted and well known by members of their community of origin; on the other they function as vectors of fresh ideas and innovation (Watts, 1999). Therefore they can shape the evolution and the learning activity of organizations: by bridging ties among distinct actors, they assume the role of change agents (Spencer, 2003; Boari, 2001). Even though the effect of knowledge brokers in fostering creativity and influencing performance of organizations are well discussed in literature (Hargadon, 1998; Hargadon, 2002), to our knowledge, very little has been said on how knowledge brokers can actually emerge. Scholars in fact have concentrated in presenting the process of innovating by bridging multiple knowledge across different industries and domains (Uzzi et al. 2007; Uzzi and Spiro, 2005; Hargadon and Sutton, 1997); less attention instead has been posed on how organizations can become during their histories brokers of new ideas, hence promoting the connection among multiple knowledge domains. The purpose of our work is to contribute to the existing body of literature by analyzing the case of the Italian comics-publishing house Kappa Edizioni, and investigating how this organization has been able to become a knowledge broker in the Italian sector of comics-publishing by supporting the circulation of innovative ideas and influencing its evolution. Moreover the case of Kappa Edizioni provide a good example on how also small organizations can act as knowledge brokers. Most of the knowledge brokers described in literature in fact, are usually big organizations that cover a focal role in the market of reference (e.g. Hargadon and Sutton, 1997). Our research takes place in the field of cultural industry: a sector that has found in network relations an important asset for pursuing the difficult task of balancing on one side, the artistic quality and artists’ inspiration and, on the other, the commercial success and the economic brake-even returns of the cultural goods produced (Lampel and Shamsie 2006; Delmestri et al. 2005). The evolution of the cultural industry has been driven by the attempt to deal with this issue by leveraging on both managerial practices and organizational forms (Hirsch 2000; Lampel et al. 2000). In particular, the relational patterns that cultural organizations are able to develop both inside and outside their organizational boundaries may be crucial for their performance: Relations with other partners in fact, can enhance the organizational learning process necessary for an organization to fulfil either creative or managerial needs. Adopting a case study approach (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 1994; Gibbert et al. 2008) we will analyse the history of Kappa Edizioni: A publishing organization based in Bologna which has brought several innovations in the national comics-publishing sector, such as the introduction of Japanese comics in the Italian market.